LOCKER ROOM REPORT: Pack's Rally Falls Short as Heels Win Play4Kay Game

NC State's Wes Moore and Khamil Pierre met with the media following the Wolfpack's 61-59 loss to No. 25 North Carolina Monday evening in the 21st annual Play4Kay game.

NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the Pack’s press conference.

Opening Statement…

WM: It was just a rough shooting night, for one thing. I thought, defensively on the board, I mean, [North Carolina] got three offensive rebounds by one player, and that was it. Defensively, [when] you hold the team to 61 points, I think you have done a pretty good job. We still had some areas where we broke down in the scout, in defending certain people, but I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job. Again, three offensive rebounds allowed, it was a good job there. I just felt like offensively—  and I'll take blame for that, too — I thought we settled a lot. We took step-backs and fade-aways. We shot two free throws in 40 minutes, so we must not have been very aggressive to the rim and finding a way to get to the foul line. Again, I think we were 1-for-12 from the three in the second half, so it’s just a bad night offensively, and like I said, I'll take blame for that, for not getting us better looks. Again, they did a good job on us defensively and found a way to win.

On what led to the fourth-quarter rally…

KP: We all just have the same purpose. We all want to win and just understand, in a situation like that, there's not much else for us to do. We weren't just going to roll over. We just understand that we're more than capable and just fighting back into the game.

On the poor shooting in the third quarter…

KP: I think that's just the game of basketball. Some nights, we're going to make shots. I feel like this team, usually, we do, and tonight we just weren't. We're off. I think that's just how the game is sometimes.

On the game’s physicality…

KP: I think it’s like Coach said: I don't think we really attacked the rim as much as we should have. Personally for me, I wasn't really aggressive down to the rim. I feel like every game is kind of physical, so I don’t feel like this one stuck out at all.

If North Carolina did anything to keep them from driving…

KP: Honestly, I think it was just settling. I don’t think it was anything too crazy. I think the jump shots were there a lot of time and, yeah, we just settled.

On the freshmen, especially Ky’She Lunan’s performance…

KP: They show up every day. They put in the same amount of work as us. They put in extra work, too, so I feel like to see them do that in a game, especially Ky, I wouldn't expect anything different.

On playing in the Play4Kay game…

KP: That's big. I always feel like, for me, it's always been bigger than just basketball, so to be able to play for a cause that is important to a lot of people around the world, that meant a lot.

On comforting Zamareya Jones after missing what would’ve been the go-ahead three…

KP: It's just basketball. She's only a sophomore. She didn't have a great shooting night, but, I can look at myself, neither did. I think she shoots great on any given night, and it's just one shot. There were so many other pieces that came into play for us to lose the game, so she shouldn't put it on herself at all.

WM: I might add, it was a tough shot, so as a coach, I should have maybe found a way to get her a better look.

On having to draw up a play at a time where the Tar Heels could foul at will without drawing the bonus…

WM: It was tough because they had zero fouls in the last 30 seconds, whatever it was, so they had five fouls to give and to try to kind of break up your rhythm a little bit. You look at ways maybe we could have gotten a shot off without having to make a whole lot of passes which is what we tried to do on the last one there. We were trying to catch it on the move and get a shot up. Obviously, we didn't have to have a three, so we tried to get her to curl in there, but they did a good job defending it, and she had to, like I said, take a tough shot.

If the game’s environment, like Courtney Banghart said, felt like March…

WM: I hope not, or we'd be going home, so I’m glad it's not. Yeah, it's a great atmosphere. Our fans are unbelievable, and obviously I think someone said they raised over half a million dollars tonight for the [Kay Yow Cancer Fund]. It's a great cause, and I appreciate our fans coming out with the weather a little iffy and the roads a little icy. It was good, but at the end of the day, we lost, so it's kind of hard to enjoy all the other stuff. Again, don't get me wrong, it's a great cause, and obviously I was with Coach Yow and saw her fight for 20 years through it. It's an important night for all of us here at NC State.

On what he saw from the team down the stretch…

WM: I'm proud of our kids. As Khamil said, we’re not going to roll over, and I'm proud of the way they fought. It's just killing me as a coach. We’ve lost three or four games like this now, so then you second guess every decision you made or make at the end and all throughout the game even. It’s tough and heartbreaking, and you feel like you're letting people down. We're not used to losing. Six of the last seven years, we finished top 10 in the country, so this is hard to swallow right now, but I just tried to remind them afterwards, “We're that close.” I mean, we've played a lot of really good teams. We played one of the toughest schedules in the country, and, yeah, we've come up short in several of these. We got to find a way to get over the hump, but we've got to stick together, try to learn, again, look in the mirror, all of us, and try to figure out a way to make up a couple of points. Like I said, if you'd told me we'd hold them to 61, I’d’ve felt pretty good, but we did have a rough night. Like I said, I'll take my fair share of the blame for that. I’ve got to try to help them, offensively, get better looks.

On the team learning from mistakes…

WM: Again, I thought tonight we did some good things. We're coming off a game where we gave up 84 points, and so I thought tonight we did a better job. It’s still frustrating that, certain players, we let them do what they like to do. We gave up some threes to shooters. We gave up some drives to slashers. I think we're making progress. We've just got to make sure we stick together, like I said, and [that] we realize we still have time. I guess we're running out of some time; we need to win games. We’ve got a tough schedule ahead of us, but we've got to find a way to win some games and ,at the same time, make sure we're getting better so, in March, we're a little bit better than we are right now.

On the seven-player rotation tonight…

WM: Part of it depends on personnel that's out on the court. Again, I probably could go deeper at times. I probably should have. We had some people have some uncharacteristic nights, and maybe we should have gone a little [deeper], but I grew up in Texas. Some of you may remember the Darrell Royal era, and he used to say, “We're going to dance with the one that brung us," so I'm kind of big on people that have earned trust. Even on an off night, I still believe they can turn it around.

On North Carolina preventing penetration…

WM: They went to the zone, and we knew that was coming. We spent time on it, but, you know, maybe like I said, we settled too much, and maybe we should have stressed attacking the gaps a little bit more. I thought we could get the ball in the high post and create some things there, but maybe we could have. You’re probably right [with] certain players, and again, when you're having a rough shooting night, you’re 1-for-12 from three in the second half, I'd be sagging, too. It was a good adjustment on their part. Hopefully, we're not going to do that very often, but again, we did tonight.

On having this rivalry matchup more than just once a season…

WM: I don't know. I hadn't even thought about it. I’m saying it wouldn't happen, but I mean we played pretty tough schedule, so it's not like we're shying away. I noticed some people maybe were questioning why I play this game and the Play4Kay. I mean, we don't control that. The ACC office and TV, probably more importantly, determine when you play and who you play. Obviously for a big night like this, Play4Kay at NC State, they want a great game, and so unfortunately, we don't control that.